Bearing arrangement



Jan. 2, 1962 DUBOls 3,015,526

BEARING ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 2, 1958 :puemf: K. GEORGES 74(5015.

F" 3,015,526 1 Patented Jan. 2, 1962 3,015,526 BEARING ARRAWGEMENTGeorges Dubois, Grenehen, Switzerland, assignor to A.

Schild S.A., Grenchen, Switzerland, a joint-stock coman P y Filed Dec.2, 1958, Ser. No. 777,740 Clm'ms priority, application Switzerland Dec.2, 1957 6 Claims. (Cl. 308-135) This invention relates to bearingarrangements, in particular to a bearing arrangement for a movableelement rotatably mounted on a part of a frame.

Movable elements mounted on a tubular or in a cylindrical projection ofa frame part or of an element mounted on said frame part for rotarymotion coaxial to said projection are well known in the art inparticular in watches, wherein said movable elements are set on fixedpins and have one face in abutting engagement with said frame part.

These known bearing arrangements have, however, the drawback that themovable elements are subjected to a great frictional drag.

7 it is now an object of this invention to reduce the friction of saidmovable elements by providing jewels between said elements and the frameparts carrying them, said jewels serving as axial abutting means forsaid movable elements. I

7 Further objects of the invention will still appear in the course ofthe following description.

Three embodiments of the bearing arrangement according to the inventionare represented diagrammatically and by way of example in the drawingsannexed to this specification.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plane view of the first embodiment,

FIG. 2 is a crosssection thereof on a larger scale,

FIG. 3 is a cross-section similar to that of FIG. 2 of the secondembodiment, and

FIG. 4 is a similar cross-section of the third embodiment.

The three embodiments represented in the drawings refer to watches withcalendar. The first embodiment (FIGS. 1 and 2) comprises an annularrotatable member 1 constituting a date indicator. For this purpose themember 1 carries date indications 1a appearing successively in a cutoutof the watch dial (not shown).

As in the usual watches with calendar a mechanism (not shown) actuatedby the watch movement acts on an inner toothing 2 of member 1 fordriving the latter one step forward every twenty-four hours.

This member 1 is rotatably mounted around a cylindrical part 3 of thewatch movement frame 4. As shown in PEG. 1 the inner ends of teeth 2have been given the form of the cylindrical part 3 so that the member 1can freely rotate around part 3 of the movement frame without too greata play in a direction perpendicular to the movement axis.

In axial direction the member 1 bears on a set of jewels 5 set withforce fit into holes 6 of the frame part 4. The jewels 5 have the formof cap jewels well known in pivot bearings. The upper faces 7 of thesejewels are domeshaped and they project beyond the frame surface portionin which they are set so that the member 1 comes in contactsimultaneously with each jewel 5 only in one point thereof.

To prevent the member 1 from falling when the watch movement 4 is turnedwith its frame part 3 downwards, a plate 8 is removably fixed to thewatch movement 4 above the part 3 thereof, so as to form a peripheralannular rim extending partly above the toothing 2 of member 1.

- The friction of the date indicator provided with the bearingarrangement described above is of course smaller than the friction ofthe date indicators known in the art, which bear directly on a metallicpart of the base plate of the watch movement.

Instead of holding member 1 around a fixed axis by means of a fixedframe part 3, one could obviously also hold it around the tubularprojection of the hour wheel (no-t shown). Furthermore member 1 need notbe guided by an element extending therewithin, it could just as well beguided by an outer cylindrical surface portion, for instance by theinward face of the annular rim 3a of frame 4.

The part of frame 4 represented in the drawings can be either a part ofthe base plate of the watch movement or a part of a frame element fixedon to said base plate.

The same bearing arrangement can of course be applied in the same mannerto every member rotatably mounted on a framework either around or withina cylindrical part projecting therefrom. In a watch for instance thearrangement in question cannot only be applied to a date indicator, butalso to the movable elements driving this indicator. Most of thesemovable elements are indeed set on pins secured to the base plate of thewatch movement and they are usually held in place in axial direction onsaid pins either by the watch dial or by a central plate like plate 8. Abearing arrangement of the type described above could also be applied tothe minute wheel of a usual watch or even to some rotatable elements ofthe winding mechanism or" selfwinding Watches, such as for instance theoscillating winding weight.

Instead of jewels constituted by cap jewels, elements of another shape,for instance spherical or cylindrical elements, could of course also beused. Moreover, it is not necessary that said elements are fixed to theframework. The second embodiment (FIG. 3) shows spherical jewels 10retained in an annular groove 11 of the frame part 4a by an annularplate 12 fixed to part 4a, this plate 12 being provided with circularcutouts 13 having a diameter smaller than that of the ball members 10.The sizes of groove 11 and of cutouts 13 are of course chosen so thatthe balls it? may freely rotate within their own lodgings, around an ownaxis.

Instead of spherical jewels as shown in FIG. 3, cylindrical jewels couldof course also be used just in the same manner. Furthermore, instead ofballs 10 located in a groove of the frame part 4a, one could also useballs located each in an own cylindrical lodging of frame part 4a, saidballs being retained in their lodgings by bending the upper edges ofthese lodgings inward. The same method could also be used for mountingcylindrical jewels on said frame part.

Eventually, instead of mounting the jewels on or fixing them to theframework, one could also mount these jewels on or fix them to themovable element itself, as shown in the third embodiment (FIG. 4),wherein cap jewels 14 are set with force fit into blind holes 15provided in the lower face 1b of the date indicator In so that thedome-shaped faces 16 jewels 14 extend beyond face 1b, which is adjacentto the frame part 411 of the watch movement.

With a movable element thinner than the date indicator 1a shown in FIG.4, for instance. with a minute wheel, the jewels ensuring the abuttingengagement in axial direction of the movable element would be set ratherinto bores provided throughout said movable element than into blindholes thereof.

Various changes in the shape, sizes and arrangement of parts could beresorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departingfrom the spirit of the invention or sacrificing the advantages thereof.

I claim:

1. In a bearing arrangement, in combination, a frame;

a movable element rotatably mounted on a part of a frame; holding meanscarried by said-frame and provided with a cylindrical bearing surfaceportion arranged for enabling rotaryvmotions of said element coaxial tosaid bearing surface; two adjacent surface portions I providedone-onsaid frame partand'the other one on said movable element, saidsurface portions extending in parallel to one another for holding saidmovable element by abutting engagementin a determined axial positionwith respect to' said cylindrical surface portion; and a set of jewelsmounted in one of said adjacent surface portions in fixed relationshipthereto. and spaced from each other so that each jewel has a partprojecting beyond said one surface portion, said projecting jewel partsbeing arranged so as to come simultaneously in contact with said otheradjacent surface portion.

2. The bearing arrangement of claim 1, in which said jewels aremoun-tedonsaid frame part.

3. In the bearing arrangement of claim 2, said jewels having each .theform of a circular cap jewel for pivot bearings with a dome-shaped face,cylindrical holes being provided in said framepart, and said jewelsbeing set with'force fit in said holes'so that said dome-shaped faces ofsaid jewels project from said frame part. i 4. In the bearingarrangement of claim 2, jewel lodgings being provided in said frame partand said jewels beingmounted in said lodgings for free rotation thereinwhile'being maintained at fixed distances from eachother.

-5.. In "the bearing arrangement of claim 1, said jewels being fixed'to"said movable element so that each jewel has apartprojecting from saidelement, on one side thereof.

6. In a bearing arrangement for a Watch movement or the like, incombination, a stationary member being formed with a cylindrical bearingsurface; a movable member having a cylindrical guide surface concentricwith and closely adjacent said cylindrical bearing surface so as to beguided for rotary motion about the axis of said cylindrical surfaces,one of said members having an abutment surface substantially normal tosaid axis and the other of said members having a mounting surface facingand closely spaced from said abutment surfaceand being formed with aplurality of cavities arranged spaced from each other along a circleconcentric with said cylindrical surfaces and extending, respectively,from said mounting surface into said other member; and a plurality ofjewels carried by the other of said members in said cavities,respectively, and at fixed distances from each other, said jewels havingeacha spherical surface protruding beyond said mount ng surface of saidother member and in contact with saidabutment surface of said onemember.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS856,245 Gamon June 11, 1907 977,983 Tipton Dec. 6, 1910 1,362,747 SegalDec. 21, 1920 FOREIGN PATENTS 377,741 Germany June 26, 1923 514,295Great Britain Nov. 3, 1939 279,358 Switzerland Nov. 30, 1951 288,975Switzerland June 1, 1953 1,101,377 France Apr. 20, 1955

